James 1:4

“…that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James 1:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.”

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James 1:5-8

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

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James 1:5

“If any of you lack wisdom…”

a. The accessibility of God

• Proverbs 15:29
• 1 Peter 3:12
• 1 John 5:14
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 (also: 6:19)

b. The accessibility of God’s wisdom

• 1 Kings 3:9-10
• Proverbs 1:20-23

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James 1:6-8

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

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Q: What does James mean by doubt?

• 1 John 5:14
  

  “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

• John 15:7
  

  “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

• Psalm 37:4-5
  

  “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
  5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”

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Truth:

The contents of your prayers reveal your commitment to Christ.

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• Mark 14:36
  

  “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

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Word Study

• “Unstable”, Gk. ἀκατάστατος (akatastatos) — “inconstant, unquiet, turbulent”
• “Double-minded”, Gk. δίψυχος (dipsychos) — “two-souled”
• “Doubt”, Gk. διακρίνω (diakrinō) — “to separate or sever”

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James 4:1-8

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

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Two reasons you don’t possess wisdom:

1. You haven’t asked God to give it
2. You don’t trust God to give it (Romans 8:5-8)

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James 4:10

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

• “Humble”, Gk. ταπεινόω (tapeinoō) — “to bring low, to level down, to descend”

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Step One:

We admitted we were powerless over whatever trial we faced, and that our lives had become unmanageable.

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